From beginner’s introductions to William James classics, this page includes books to suit any learning style. It is important to note that there is no single best book about James. the best book for you will largely depend on your preferred learning style and the amount of time/energy you are willing to devote to reading. For example, if you tend to find the classic works of philosophy difficult to understand, you might want to start with a short introduction for beginners. If you prefer more depth, you can choose a more complete introduction or read james by yourself.
It’s also worth noting that this is not a list of personal recommendations. personal book recommendations tend to be highly subjective, idiosyncratic, and unreliable. This list is part of a collection of over 100 philosophy reading lists that aims to provide a central resource for philosophy book recommendations. these lists were created by searching hundreds of university syllabuses, internet encyclopedia bibliographies, and community recommendations. Links to the syllabuses and other sources used to create this list are at the end of the post. Following these links will help you quickly find a wider range of options if the books listed don’t fit what you’re looking for.
You are reading: Best william james books
Here are the best books about or by William James in no particular order.
the philosophy of william james: an introduction – richard m. gale
Category: General Introduction | Length: 258 pages | Published: 2004 
Editor’s description: This accessible introduction to the philosophy of William James reveals a significant divide between a Promethean-type pragmatism and a passive mysticism that integrates Richard Gale. While James’s “pragmatist” personality conceives of truth and meaning as a means of controlling nature and making it do our bidding, his “mystical” personality eschews the use of concepts to penetrate the inner conscious core of all beings, including nature in general.
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william james: his life and thought – gerald e myers
Category: General Introduction | Length: 628 pages | Published: 1986 
Publisher’s description: This book is the first comprehensive interpretive and critical study of one of America’s foremost philosophers and psychologists. Gerald Myers traces the life and career of James and then uses this new biographical information to illuminate his writings and ideas.
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becoming william james – howard m. feinstein
Category: Biography | Length: 377 pages | Published: 1986 
Editor’s description: For William James, work was the problem. Ultimately, going to work was the resolution, and James’s search for meaningful work remains as relevant in the late twentieth century as it was in the nineteenth. Weaving together letters, diaries, drawings, and published text, Being William James offers a compelling biographical analysis rich in detail and tone. In the new introduction to him, Howard M. Feinstein adds biological psychiatry to psychoanalytic and family systems theories to inform our understanding of complex man. Furthermore, he discusses whether James’s mental illness could have been treated with medication.
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william james cambridge companion – ruth anna putnam
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Category: Overview | Length: 424 pages | Published: 1997 
Publisher description: William James (1842-1910) was a philosopher and psychologist, today most closely associated with the pragmatic theory of truth. this companion’s essays cover the full range of his thought, including technical philosophical issues, religious speculations, moral philosophy, and political controversies of his day. New readers and non-specialists alike will find this to be the most convenient and accessible guide to James currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a summary of recent developments in the interpretation of James.
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the essential william james – william james
Category: Anthology | Length: 422 pages 
Publisher’s description: William James (1842-1910) was one of the most original and influential American thinkers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a professor at Harvard University, he published many works that had a wide impact on both psychology and philosophy. His Principles of Psychology was the most important work in English on the mind since Locke’s Essay on Human Understanding. his varieties of religious experience practically inaugurated the field of the psychology of religion, and he also remains a great inspiration for the philosophy of religion. Perhaps most importantly, James publicized the pragmatism movement and supplied much of its powerful impetus…
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pragmatism – william james
Category: Classic | Length: 128 pages 
Publisher description: William James (1842-1910), a deeply influential figure in American psychology, was also a noted philosopher who used Charles S. Peirce’s theories of pragmatism as a basis for his own conception of that influential philosophy. For James, this meant an emphasis on “radical empiricism” and the concept that the meaning of any idea (philosophical, political, social, or otherwise) is valid only in terms of its practical and experiential consequences.
james expounded his theories of pragmatism in this book, one of the most important in American philosophy. In a sense, he wanted to test competing systems of thought in the “marketplace of actual experience” to determine their validity—that is, whether adopting a particular philosophical theory or way of seeing the world makes a real difference to individual behavior or behavior. in how we behave. perceive and react to varieties of experience. In these pages, James not only vigorously defends his own ideas, but launches a powerful attack against the transcendental and rationalist tradition….
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the varieties of religious experience – william james
Category: Classic | Length: 576 pages 
Publisher’s description: Located at the crossroads of psychology and religion, this catalytic work applied the scientific method to a field rich in abstract theory. William James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone of the world’s religious life. His discussions of conversion, repentance, mysticism, and sainthood, and his observations of actual personal religious experiences all support this thesis. In introducing him, Martin E. Marty discusses how James’s pluralistic view of religion led to his remarkable tolerance of extreme forms of religious behavior, his challenging and highly original theories, and his welcome unpretentiousness in all his observations on the individual and the divine.
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the will to believe – william james
Category: Classic | Length: 448 pages 
Publisher’s description: This volume contains the full texts of two books by America’s foremost psychologist and philosopher. Easy to understand, yet brilliant and insightful, the books were written specifically for the layman and remain thought-provoking reading for readers concerned with important questions of belief in the age of science.
In the essays, entitled The Will to Believe, James first discusses the interrelationships of belief, will, and intellect, examining questions such as: How does man believe? ? how do beliefs color intellectual considerations? what role do irrational elements play even in rigorously logical thought? chance versus determinism, free will versus fate, pluralism versus monism are discussed in the following sections. James also covers psychic research, Hegelianism, and Spencer’s philosophy…
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the principles of psychology – william james
Category: Classic | Length: 720 pages 
Publisher’s description: This is the first affordable edition of the complete Long Course in Principles of Psychology, one of the great classics of modern Western science and literature and the source of the most mature thought of most Americans. important philosopher. as such, it should not be confused with the many summaries that omit key sections. The book presents lucid descriptions of human mental activity, with detailed considerations of streams of thought, consciousness, perception of time, memory, imagination, emotions, reason, abnormal phenomena, and the like. in its course it takes into account the work of berkeley, binet, bradley, darwin, descartes, fechner, galton, green, helmholtz, herbart, hume, janet, kant, lange, lotze, locke, mill, royce, schopenhauer, spinoza, wundt , and dozens of others. examines contrasting interpretations of mental phenomena, dealing with introspective analysis, philosophical interpretations, and experimental research. remains unsurpassed today as a brilliantly written study of william james’s timeless vision of psychology.
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The following sources were used to create this list:
bibliographies:
- bibliography of the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy article on william james
- bibliography of the internet encyclopedia of philosophy article on william james
additional resources
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- the best books on pragmatism